India taxi service sorry for driver's gunpoint robbery

BluSmart is a popular ride-sharing app in Delhi and its suburbs

An Indian taxi aggregator service has apologised after a customer said she was robbed at gunpoint by one of its drivers near the capital, Delhi.

The 30-year-old woman said she was travelling in a BluSmart taxi with her six-year-old son on Saturday when the driver pulled out a gun.

In her police complaint, she said he forced her to transfer 55,000 rupees ($650; £513) to him through an app before forcing her out of the car. The driver has since been arrested.

On Tuesday, BluSmart said it was "deeply saddened and disturbed" by the incident and had apologised to the woman's family.

BluSmart is a popular ride-sharing app in the capital and its suburbs. It was founded in 2019 and its fleet is 100% electric vehicles.

The service has many loyal customers who say they prefer these taxis as they are newer and cleaner than those used by other services. Many said they were shocked by the news of the robbery.

The customer said she had taken the BluSmart to travel from a mall in Gurugram, an upscale suburb of Delhi, to her house a few kilometres away.

She alleged that after she transferred the money to him, the driver forced them out of the car and fled the scene with her suitcase, a spokesperson for Gurugram police said.

The driver was arrested a day later after the woman shared the taxi's registration number. Police said the accused was produced in court and remanded to police custody for further investigation.

In a post on X, BluSmart co-founder Anmol Singh Jaggi said the incident felt "personal".

"Safety is our foundation," he wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Jaggi said the company's "exhaustive documentation process" and swift action from its "Quick Response Team" had ensured the driver was caught within 24 hours of the incident.

"We have stringent onboarding processes, including mandatory background checks, face-to-face interviews, and driving tests," the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

BluSmart said its platform had facial recognition to verify driver identities as well as a safety helpline for customers.

The robbed woman's husband, however, told Indian Express newspaper that "she did not get time to sound an alarm as the driver suddenly pointed the gun” at her.

BluSmart said it was taking steps to strengthen its safety protocols and providing additional training to drivers.

The company added that it was committed to providing the affected family with "all necessary support".

Police said investigation was on to recover the stolen money and the firearm allegedly used by the accused.

Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.